Question: What is the purpose of Prophethood in Islam?

Answer: Its purpose is to give humankind the blueprint on how to attain salvation in God as well as providing a human example on how to put that blueprint into practice. 

Question: What’s the difference between wahī and ilhām?

Answer: Ilhām is usually a form of private inspiration from God, but wahī is revealed through the medium of the Archangel Gabriel (as) and is conditioned upon propagation to the public. Wahī is usually something new, often in the form of a new law. 

Question: What’s the difference between a nabī (Prophet) and a rasūl (Messenger)?

Answer: A nabī receives basic revelation from God, usually in the form of a specific law whereas a Messenger receives a whole new system of laws which other nabī-only prophets usually follow. 

Question: Why is the Prophet Muhammad (s) the last Prophet?

Answer: Because he is the prophet for the end of times, meaning that his message was perfect, complete and universal. Universal means for all times, all places and all peoples. As such, there is no more need for a new nabī. 

Question: What’s the difference between Sunnah and hadīth?

Answer: Sunnah is the tradition, practice or culture of the Prophet. The sunnah is preserved in a oral tradition called the ḥadīth, which are sayings of the Prophet, or sayings about him, as in his actions. 

Question: What is salvation?

Answer: Salvation is to purify the heart from sins and evil and to fill it with the remembrance of God and surrender to the divine.